2008 Hand Built Bike Show

Billy from Supersession. Photo from Nick Brandeth.




I took this photo earlier this year, doing some errands around town on my Fall Guy. It's a some kind of Vanilla Extra Cycle.


The 2008 Hand Built Bike Show is in Portland this year, and less than a month away. I really don't like the term "Hand Built" because all bike frames are built with hands, and this title implies that bikes are built with something other than hands. Like feet? Armies of robots? Sometimes those hands are in a large factory overseas, sometimes those hands are operating a machine tool instead of a file, but all bikes, to my knowledge are "built by hand."

I'd like to offer the name "Craft Bike Show." This is a show for small builders exclusively, and I think craft more accurately describes this end of the bike industry. Far more so than hand built or even "custom."

Anyway, Tonic Fab won't be at this show, and that's kind of bummer because we've got a couple bangers we'd love to have ready to show-off, but the beginning of Febuary isn't a good time for us to show-off.

It just doesn't pencil out for us this year. Our most significant business challenge is quite simply staging ourselves to build more bikes, not name recognition, or creating demand.

The good news is that some real changes are happening at Tonic. And, we will probably have an open-house of sorts after the show. Open the shop up for people to check-out. See some frames/bikes/weird tooling/machines/Tony's Sideburns.

Find details here, and dress warmly. Very warmly.

Cheers,

Landon.